A fact has become clear to me: The State of New York no longer exists. What we have today is a polity that is, in effect, the City of New York and its possessions.

The passage of the “SAFE” Act is a clear message to the residents of the possessions of the City of New York that our interests and lifestyle are no longer relevant to the politicians of the State of New York. The passage of this bill is the legislative equivalent of rape. It was passed suddenly and without our consent. Our interests and concerns, as well as our rights, were secondary to the whims and desires of the City of New York.

I am sure that there are state-level politicians who are absolutely befuddled by the fact that they are required to vote on farm issues since they have never seen a farm in the Bronx. I would not be surprised if the legislature of the State of the City of New York voted for a car tax that required New Yorkers to pay 100% of the value of their automobile each year since, in reality, a car is a luxury. You can always take the subway or a bus to wherever your going, after all. The cultural gap between the City and the State of New York is as vast as the gap between Washington, D.C., and America.

In a perfect world, the residents of the State of New York would have the right, and ability, to divorce themselves from the political overreaching of the City of New York. In the real world, we are stuck with its mandates and its world-view. I have had a recurring dream: I stand at the Rockland County line with a huge saw. I cut, and I cut. Eventually, NYC and Long Island are cut free and I push them out to sea. I wish them good luck in their journeys, but I do not miss them.

Back in the land of the awake, we have to deal with the costs of this NYC control to the people of the possessions of the City of New York. Unfunded mandates, regulations and laws, passed to solve NYC and NYC suburban county problems, but having statewide effect and statewide costs, have built upon and compounded on themselves. These costs are bringing our local governments to the brink of bankruptcy. The State Senate is controlled now by the politicians of the City of New York, regardless of the fig leaf of a few Democrats caucusing with the Republicans to form a “Republican” majority. The situation will continue to worsen and the costs to rise.

I can dream of the counties of Western New York declaring their separation and forming their own polity to free themselves from the tyranny of the City of New York, but this will not happen. It would create a new entity that would potentially result in a new state that would bring with it two new U.S. Senators who would inevitably be Republican. The City of New York would never stomach that, let alone the party of which it is a wholly owned subsidiary.

Alternatively, perhaps the border counties, and their neighbors, could petition Pennsylvania for admission to the Commonwealth. That will not be allowed for very much the same reason. It would tip the balance of power in Pennsylvania in favor of the Republicans. That would never be allowed.

What I suspect will continue to happen, though, is that former citizens of what was, once, the Empire State will continue to make their homes in Free States in the South and West of the United States of America in increasing numbers as the oppression of the City of New York continues. With lower taxes, and better employment prospects than are available in the possessions of the City of New York, it is a no-brainer to flee. Good luck paying your ever-increasing bills with an ever-increasing out-migration of taxpayers, State of the City of New York.

AP) An early list of proposals from a task force redesigning the most expensive Medicaid system in the nation seeksto charge hospitals and nursing homes more as a way to cut NewYork's cost.

The above appeared on a Rochester news site, The link for the full article appears below.

How in the world is charging hospitals and nursing home morea cost cutting move?!! After wooing the state's taxpayers with a speech revolving around a redesigning the way state government works, it seems the old doublespeak is alive and well.

It seems the governor does not have the guts to say that he isconsidering cutting aid to these facilities by 750 million bucks over two years. Instead, he buries this fact by creating a charge back instead. Any bets the chargeback will be called a fee?

ALBANY — Prior to the first gubernatorial debates, few people outside of the Capital Region knew who Warren Redlich was or that he was running for the state’s top office.

But with Republican Carl Paladino rapidly falling in the polls, the Libertarian candidate for governor found himself speaking before a burgeoning audience of fiscal conservatives when the forum touched off at Hofstra University last week. Now Redlich, a member of the Guilderland Town Board, is aiming to attract even more than the 50,000 votes he’ll need to secure the Libertarians a spot on ballot for the next four years.

In fact, he’s hoping Paladino’s plummeting popularity among voters can boost his popularity enough to at least finish second to front-runner Andrew Cuomo. Or maybe even better.
“If Carl Paladino stands aside, I’m no longer a long shot,” he said.

Redlich, who is among five third-party candidates vying for the governor’s office, garnered generally positive remarks in the news media following a debate that some characterized as a circus. His platform of strict fiscal conservatism is seemingly drawing socially moderate Republicans and tea party followers to his camp, as was evidenced by a sudden influx of followers on the 44-year-old attorney’s Facebook profile.

Since the debate, he’s been quoted in most of the state’s major metropolitan newspapers and has appeared on national television. He’s traveled from Manhattan to Rochester for interviews and is garnering a second look by many voters disgusted by the prospect of voting for the major party candidates — not bad for a campaign that has about $10,000 in its coffers.

“Andrew Cuomo has 856 [campaign] contributions more than that,” he said.

Running a lean campaign, however, dovetails nicely with Redlich’s message: End the wasteful spending. Redlich’s attention is almost solely focused on the state’s fiscal woes rather than the social issues that often receive more attention from the major parties.

“I focus on the fact that Republicans and Democrats aren’t delivering,” he said. “They love the fights over social issues because that distracts people from the fact that they’re wasting our money.”

Redlich’s plan for New York isn’t one that is likely to gain him friends in the upper echelons of state government. His top plan is to introduce a general salary cap for bureaucrats, so that they couldn’t earn more than $100,000 annually or receive a pension greater than $75,000.

He points to the bloated salaries now paid for on the public dime: A librarian in Manhattan earning $689,000 per year and a conductor on the Long Island Railroad earning an annual pay of $239,000. In all, he said roughly 110,000 bureaucrats throughout the state earn more than $100,000.

“Capping those salaries alone would save $3 billion,” he said.
Redlich is also calling for an end to what he calls “corporate welfare crony capitalism.” In short, he said the spending for so-called economic development throughout the state should be eliminated, since it’s most often given to well-connected companies that aren’t exactly short on funds.

He also proposes to eliminate many of the smaller agencies throughout the state. For instance, he said groups like the state Commission on Corrections or the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission could be dissolved without having a negative impact on state residents.

Redlich is also gunning for larger agencies. He sees no need to continue the state Thruway Authority and is in favor of eliminating the tolls that go to support it; he regards the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority as one that has good intentions, but hasn’t really delivered anything to justify the spending it receives.

“There are good people trying to do good things,” he said, “but in the end we only have so much money.”
Of course, Redlich is keenly aware that his proposed cuts would face strong opposition in the halls of state government. That’s why he is making an election pledge to aid the campaign of any candidate that runs against an incumbent opposing his measures.

“Andrew [Cuomo] has a magic wand and Carl [Paladino] has a magic baseball bat to deal with these issues,” he said. “I’m going with a carrot and stick — persuasion.”